Walnut huller



Oct. 5, 41937. w. E. FORMWAY WALNUT HULLER' Filed OCT.. 1l, 1935 2Sheets-Sheet 1 v INVNTOR,

I WILL/AM E. FORMWAY.

ATTORNEYS Oct. 5, 1937. w. E. FoRMwAY 2,094,880

WALNUT HULLER Filed oct. 11, 1955 '2 sheets-sheet 2 INVENTORY WILL/AM E.FORMWY ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 5, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE v2,094,880 p l WALNUT HULLER William E. Formway, Los Altos, Calif.

Application October 11, 1935, ,Serial No. 44,530

- 1 claim, (ol. 14e-8)y My invention relates to walnut hullers, and moreparticularly to a machine adapted to hull, wash, and separate the hullsfrom the clean nuts.

Among the objects of my invention are: To provide an eiiicient /walnuthuller and washer; to provide a walnut huller having a oating brush; toprovide a walnut huller which exerts a differential pressure on walnutsduring the step of hulling; to provide a walnut huller which separateshulls from hulled nuts; to provide a walnut huller which will operateimproper manner evenwhen trash, such as' leaves,`J sticks, etc., areadmixed with the unhulled nuts; to provide a means and method ofpreventing feed jams; to provide a walnut huller wherein the hullingbrushes may be quickly removed or replaced; to provide a walnut hullerwhich is adjustable for different sized nuts, and to provide a walnuthuller which hulls and scrubs at the same time.

:o Other objects of my invention will be apparent or will be specicallypointed out in the description forming a part of this specification, butI do not limit myself to the embodiment of the invention hereindescribedas various forms may be adopted within the scope of the claim.

Referring to drawings:

Figure 1 is a side view of a preferred embodiment of my invention. J

Figure 2 isa top plan view of the gure illus- 50 trated in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a discharge end View of the machine.

Figure 4 is a detailed view of the washer drive partly in section andpartly in elevation.

Figure 5 is a longitudinal view showing the 35 brushes and 'draper indetail, and showing both hooked and inclined brush wires; and

Figure 6 is a cross sectional view of the huller taken as indicated bythe line 6--6 in Figure 1.

In hulling walnuts the raw material, i. e. the

40 unhulled nuts, vary greatly in both size and` condition. In the firstplace in an orchard run of unhulled nuts there are nuts whose hulls arenot even cracked, there are other nuts whose hulls are partiallycracked, and there are still other 45 nuts which have lost all or mostof their hull or may have a portion vof the hull sticking so tightly tothe shell that removal is difficult.l These lat,- ter nuts are calledstick-tights, and it is one of the features of my machine that such nutsare,

50 in the majority of cases, cleaned.

Furthermore in unhulled nuts there is a wide variation in size, evenfrom the nuts on a given tree. There is, however, another factor thatenters in,-namely, that nuts from one tree or of 55 one particularvariety will be considerably larger or smaller on the average than-fromother trees. It is, therefore, another feature of my invention thatsuchchanges in size maybe rapidly accommodated by a quick change in theadjustment of the machine without stopping it. 5

In addition, walnut hulls are soft and in any feed chute there is alwaysa tendeneyfor nuts tov jam. It is, therefore, desirable to incorporatein a machine means for preventing such jamming in the feed chute and Ihave done so in this case. 10

My machine also provides-for immediate sepa'- ration of the cleaned orpartially cleanedfnuts from the hu1ls,-the hulls being eliminated'ffromthe process line as fast as they become free. While I have described mydevice as' a walnut 15 huller, it is obvious that it is adapted to hullother nuts having similar hulling characteristics.

For the broader laspects of my invention I refer to a detailed andpreferred embodiment of myi invention as shown in the drawings. A frameI conveniently formed from angle and strap iron, supports at one end afeed chute 2 leading directly onto a draper table 3. The bottom of thisdraper table is formed from spaced round bars 4, the spacing betweenthese bars being sufcient to allow most of the hulls to drop through butnot suilicient to allow any good nuts to pass. A draper 5 in the form ofan endless belt comprising a pair of drive belt members 6 and aplurality of lateral crossbarsf'l supported on pulleys 9 and I0, the30return being under the draper table. The crossbars 'I are also placedabove the belt member 6 so that they ride slightly raised above thedraper iloor.

In a position immediately above the draper table is an inclined brushframe I I holding three removable wire brushes I2, the entire brushassembly being supported on angular arms I4 pivoted at one end to thebrush frame I I and at the other end to the draper table. The rear pairof 40 armss preferably shorter than the front pair, thus placing thebrush at an angle to the draper table floor. I prefer to incline thesearms away from the feed chute so that relative motion of the brushassembly to or from the feed chute will raise and lower the brushassembly as related to draper 4. The minimum distance of the brushassembly is regulated by an adjustment link I5 connected at one end tothe entrance end of the brush assembly and provided at the chute endwith threads upon which a rotatable nut I6 is mounted bearing againstframe I, the rotation of this nut changing the distance between thebrushes and the draper iioor. The

nut I6, however, is preferably not restrained as to I outward movementand consequently the brush assembly may rise if suiiicient pressure isexerted underneath the brush units. The operation of this bmah is to betaken up later.

Nuts passing between the draper table and the brushes are dumped afterhulling into a rotating washer I1, formed from longitudinal bars I8,held together by circular bars I9, the washer rotating on trunnions 20,bearing on two spaced circular bars. Y

'I'he interior of the washer is preferably provided with spiraldefiectors 2I in order that the nuts may be progressed therethroughduring rotation, the nuts nally being dumped through a discharge chute22 onto a conveyor table 23 and progressed therealong by a nut conveyorbelt 24. It is customary to utilize this conveyor table as a cullingtable before the nuts -pass to the dehydrator.

Immediately underneath the draper and -washer-in a longitudinal hullconveyor table 25 over which passes a hull'disposal conveyor 26supported on conveyor pulleys 21 which collects all hulls and trashwhich fallsA through the draper Aand washer and dumps it into a lateralhull disposal conveyor 28, which removes the hulls from the vicinity ofthe machine.

Power for the entire machine is supplied by a motor 38, which, ifelectricity be available is an electric motor, but', if not, a gasolinemotor will suiiice. This motor is placed on the'very top of the machinein orderV that no water may reach it. A main drive belt 3| connectsmotor through a pinion gear and shaft 32, which, in turn, drives a maingear wheel 33. 'Ihis gear wheel is mounted on a main shaft 34 upon whichis also mounted draper pulley III. The shaft is also extended outwardlyto drive a hull conveyor belt 35 which drives the hull disposal conveyor26, and through the medium of a transmission belt 36 power istransmitted to the nut conveyor belt 24 and in any convenient manner,such as gearing 31, tothe hull disposal conveyor 28.

s. under control of faucet 4I.

'I'he main gear wheel 33 is provided with dogs 39 which engagelongitudinal washer bars I8 to rotate the washer cage. I also prefer toprovide the entire washer cage with a housing 40 and to provide'washwater from a .iet pipe extending into the interior of the cage, waterbeing sprayed therefrom through a series of jets', not shown,

-In order that jams in the feed may be prevented, I prefer vto directnuts fromv the feed chute into the draper by an inclined movable flap 44which is moved by contact with crossbars 1 each time one comes. aroundonto the draper oor. Such a movement joltsthe nuts in the feed chute,

' causing them toprogress without jamming, onto the draper.

Returning to the operation of the device, thel operator preferablystands at the feed end and watches the nuts going into the feed chute 2,and

lis quickly able to judge by looking at the nuts what the properadjustment of the brush assembly above the draper floor should be, andby turning nut I6 the adjustment desired is accomplished. He may alsowatch the nuts discharge from under the brush to see'whether or not thehull removal is complete.

Referring directly to Figures 5 and 6, it will be seen that I prefer touse either hooked brush wires with the ends of the wires bent toward theon- I coming nuts or wires inclined as a whole. 'I'he brush'wires 45,are, of course. of relatively heavy and springy wire and enter the hulland tear it,

sembly so that the brush wires just contact the hull of an average nutat the entrance end, and the entrance to the brush assembly iseasy, nogreat amount of power being necessarily applied at this point. I preferto adjust the brush assembly, however, so that at the far end the brushwires are spaced above the draper floor somewhat less than the diameterof the average clean nut. In the majority of cases the hull is entirelyremoved from the nut before the nut has progressed the full length ofthe brush and the final brush yWires bear heavily and directly on theshell and serve to remove any stick-tight portion which may be remainingupon it. It is not claimed that this brush assembly will remove any andall portions of the hull stuck to the shell but the machine will removein most cases such portions, particularly if they are green and soft.All loose portions of sunburned hulls are removed. Thus pressure isprogressively increased duriner transversal of the brush.

In case a smaller average sized nut is being fed to the machine theoperator, by means of nut I6 may lower the entire brush assembly, thearm arrangement being so that substantially the same angularity with thedraper iioor is maintained. Furthermore, if it should happen that a,rock, or other large object, should pass through the machine the entirebrush assembly may rise under the urge which would be impartedthereto bythe larger object. Furthermore, if large nuts come through mixed with amain body of smaller ones the brush assembly will quickly adjustitselffor the larger average size. It is only necessary to adjust the brushfor minimum sizes, the maximum sizes being taken care of by the floatingof lthe brushes, and in some cases, where feed is wise disrupted duringcontinued operation of the device, I find that it is desirable to makethe brushes dem'ountable. I accomplish this by making each of the threebrushes in the form of a brush base 45 on which the wires are mounted,these brush bases having a shoulder 46 bearing against. brush frame IIandbeing-held against the frame by locking bars 41, held down by lockingbolts and nuts 48. Thus, any or all of the brushes I2 may be quicklyremoved, repaired, and replaced, or new brushes installed.

One of the features of my device is that hulls are rapidly removed fromthe huller. of the draper table, being formed from spaced round bars 4,allows the broken pieces of hull to fall therethrough as the nutsrevolve, and in case any of the hulls should pass through the hullingportion of the machine into the washer, such pieces will in most casesbe eliminated through the washer bars I8. It is very rare that any hullspass through the washer with the nuts. All hulls and trash fallingthrough the floor of the draper table or through the washer will fall onthe hull disposal conveyor and be removed from the vicinity of themachine'.

Furthermore, I have found that trash in general and leaves in particulardo not prevent the Y The oor vents the proper hulling of the nuts. In'my ma- 75 chine.- however, the brush wires penetrate the leaves easily,passing through them into the hull without material obstruction. Mymachine is able to hull with perfect satisfaction even though theentering unhulled nuts have a substantial admixture of trash. Therotation of the nuts keeps the brush clean and the torn-up leaves areeliminated along with the hulls. Furthermore, I nd that hulls in mymachine are broken up into relatively ne particles due to multiplerotations of the nut while under the brushes.

It will also be seen that the walnut huller above described isrelatively free from one big disadvantage of many prior hullers, i. e.shell breakage. In many prior machines there is a large percentage ofsuch broken nuts, particularly in those machines that are not able tocompensate for large and small nuts passing through the,-

machlne at the same time. Under these circumstances the large nuts areinvariably broken.

The wires of the brush used in my present inf Vention, while theypenetrate the hulls easily, are

suiciently resilient to prevent them from entering or piercing the shellofthe nut, and the ability of the'brush assembly as a Whole to riseprevents shell crackage when a majority of large nuts are fed intothe'machine.

I claim:

L In a walnut huller, the combination of a at wire brush and astationary support, said brush being positioned over said support withthe wires thereof directed toward said support, said wires beingsuniciently pointed and rigid to penetrate the hulls of walnuts to behulled, and said brush having insumcient weight to cause said wires topenetrate theshells of said walnuts, a plurality of pivoted armsconnecting said brush and said support, said arms being inclined in acommon direction away from the entrance end of said combination, wherebysaid brush may float upwardly on the nuts passing thereunder, means formaintaining a minimum distance between said brush and said supportwithout interfering with the upward motion of said brush, said armsbeing of different length along the course of said brush Ato create anangle between the plane of the brush and the plane of said support, andmeans for rolling unhulled walnuts between said brush and said supportat the point of greatest divergence.

WILLIAM E. FORMWAY.

